Update from the lab

Yesterday I gave a presentation to the lab on my work from the past several weeks, which can be found here. Last week we received the famous Alexa Fluor dyes, which I will use to label DnaK at two different positions for FRET experiments. So far I've studied the fluorescent properties of the dyes on three different fluorimeters and run some labeling reactions to determine how fast the dyes are conjugated onto DnaK. Determining the reaction rates for different DnaK mutants will be crucial for selectively labeling the protein at distinct residues. The mutant I tested this week, T136C/C15S, reacted in seconds, so hopefully another mutant will react slower.

Aoraki

Perfect weather made for an amazing trip to Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park this past weekend. I went with three American exchange students: Allie from Williams, Danielle from Bowdoin, and Jess from the University of Vermont. That was okay because the park is overwhelmed with foreign tourists from all over the world, so we fit right in. We did the four hour drive on Saturday evening, stopping at the Oasis restaurant in Omarama, where we had a very romantic candelit dinner because it was Earth Hour. We arrived at White Horse Hill Campground at Aoraki Mt. Cook Village long after dark and I attempted to set up the tent I rented from Unipol, the University athletic club. I soon realized that the poles and fly we had didn't work with our tent--someone probably mixed up the poles and flies from two different tents--and my jury-rigging produced a very fragile shelter with a few inches of vertical space that was easily toppled by wind. It wasn't super cold, but the frequent intense gusts precluded us from sleeping in the open. Allie had a two-person tent for her and Danielle, and Jess and I ended up sleeping in the car.

We awoke before sunrise on Sunday and realized we were at the foot of New Zealand's tallest peaks. It was warm and sunny, although still very blustery. We hiked to Mueller Hut and beyond to Mt. Olivier, a four-hour trek to an altitude over 1900 meters. We were treated to stunning views of Aoraki, Mt. Sefton, and multiple glaciers as well as intense winds that nearly blew me over a couple times. At Mueller Hut the log book was full of entries from hikers from Japan, Israel, Germany, Sweden, the U.S., Argentina, Australia, and England.

Witnessing the great Aoraki with my own eyes was incredible. It is undoubtedly one of the world's most impressive and prominent mountains, with steep faces on all sides. The scenery in general was some of the most amazing I have ever seen.

Due to lack of tent, we decided to drive home Sunday night through dry grasslands in the rain shadow of the Southern Alps. We stopped at a campground on the way to dine on couscous with zucchini and carrots.

Triathlon

Last weekend I competed in the Activ8 Triathlon in Invercargill. Mike and I drove down in his family's old Mitsubishi van Saturday afternoon and arrived at the Kackling Kea backpackers around 7 pm. After stashing our gear we headed out into the wilds of hustling and bustling Invercargill. The were wide, straight, flat, boring avenues lined with shops that were mostly closed. The sidewalks were empty. We found a lousy restaurant to eat in and concluded that Invercargill didn't have much else to recommend itself besides claiming to be the world's southernmost city.

The next morning we awoke early to fresh baked bread, which apparently is a daily ritual at the Kackling Kea. Then we reported to the Splash Palace indoor swimming complex to register for the race and set up our bicycles at the transition area. I was competing in the long triathlon, which consisted of an 800 meter swim, 24 kilometer bike, and 8 kilometer run. Mike was doing the long duathlon, which was 8k run, 24k bike, and 4k run. The swim took place around a 100m square circuit in the pool, and while I was one of the last to finish, I wasn't too far behind and passed just about everyone within a few minutes on the bike. The bike course was two 12k loops on flat country roads. The run was also two loops, with a small section on a trail by a lazy river. I didn't have anyone to race against, as it turned out there was actually just one other male doing the long triathlon, but I pushed myself all the same and finished in 1:37:56. Mike finished the duathlon a few minutes behind me.

There were over a hundred people at the race, divided between long and short versions of the triathlon and duathlon, and some competing on teams. The organizers gave out quite a few spot prizes after the race, but neither Mike nor I won anything. Overall it was a fun race, a fun weekend, a little adventure, and a pleasant drive through rolling farmland.

The kiwi life: drinking, rugby, tramping, in that order

The past two weekends have been notable for a number of events. On Friday March 6, we held a barbecue at 7 Jura Street and invited folks from the three neighboring flats that share our address as well as a couple other friends. Our compound is quite international, begin composed of Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Kiwis, Maori, and Americans. If significant others are included, our ranks swell to include an Afghani. We cooked up loads of sausages, steaks, burgers, other pieces of mystery meat, kumara, and corn on the cob in the husk.

The following day, Saturday, I attended the Otago Highlanders vs. Canterbury Crusaders rugby match at Carisbrook Stadium, the House of Pain. The Highlanders won 6-0 in the lowest scoring game in the history of the Super 14, the rugby league that includes teams from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Here is a video from the fight song that was played before the game.

From 090316 rugby and hike at sigurd's

This past weekend my friend Henry had his 21st birthday party in the same cave at the beach that we camped in earlier this summer. It was a pretty wild affair, with a massive generator to power dance music and lights. Several attendees attempted to down the approximately 2.5 liters of booze contained in a "yardie" or yard glass. The human stomach is not designed to hold that volume, we soon discovered.

Yesterday I rode my bike out to Sigurd's house for a hike up Harbour Cone, one of the highest hills on the Otago Peninsula, and a dinner party. I brought some banana bread, which ended up a little gooey due to excess banana, but was tasty nonetheless. Below are pictures from the rugby and hike which tell the story better than me rambling on.

Teaching med students with a B.A.?

As promised, I am posting some pictures of my new flat as well as a few from events a while back.



Today was my first day of demonstrating in a second year biochemistry lab for medical students. This lab was far less involved than any lab I took at Williams. I hesitate to call it a joke...but I guess I just did. The lab was titled "isoenzymes," which are multimeric enzymes composed of two or more different subunits. The particular composition of subunits varies across tissues. The medical application of this was that apparently you can diagnose heart vs. liver disease based on the form of isoenzyme released into the blood from damaged cells. The students separated a mixture of the isoenzyme lactate dehydrogenase isolated from different tissues by native gel electrophoresis. They opened a pre-cast agarose gel, pipetted liquid from three tubes labeled A, B, and C onto the gel, and then handed it over to the demonstrators to place in the electrophoresis running apparatus. The stain solution which assayed for protein activity had to be made immediately prior to staining, so the students added the appropriate reagents to a test tube by pressing down on dispensers that were programmed to deliver a specific volume (like those for ketchup at the ballpark). The "wet" part of the lab was only one component; half the time was spent working on a case study about diagnosing someone by measuring isoenzymes in the blood.

The experience was made more disappointing by a quite confusing introduction from the lab instructor and the lackadaisical attitude of some (but not all) of the students. When I tried to explain certain points in more detail, they just glossed over and nodded a lot, eager to get out of lab as soon as possible. They do have jam packed schedules, and are given only two hours for this particular lab.

Nevertheless, demonstrating was enjoyable and I learned a few new things--what an antipyretic is, for instance. I was also struck by the number of international students in the class. Tomorrow is the first class of an upper-level biochemistry seminar that I will be auditing this year. I have a good feeling that this will be more interesting than the medical lab.